Questions about going SLI

First things first my system (with an added GPU in case);

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DBGZjc

I've been thinking about pulling the trigger and getting a second 1080 AMP! Extreme rather than wait for a 1080 Ti to come around. I figure it will look cooler and give even more performance than a 1080 Ti would, I've got the money so why not? Well one I am a complete SLI newb, and two I'm not sure of some of the aspects which it will not work and what I should do.

Answer: According to my MB manual I must use PCIe x16/x8_1 and PCIe x8_2 (skips a slot, would be _3 on some boards) This brings thermals under heavy scrutiny since now they must be stacked within centimeters of each other, at the least it would be incredibly loud in my otherwise dead silent rig
[strike]1.) CLEARANCE AND SIZE: I just bought a new kind of GPU brace which would allow me to get rid of my bracket style (under the GPU) brace and allow me to hold up two cards at once, since the AMP Extreme is a behemoth of a card. Still I am a bit worried about clearance with my MB and my PSU. I think I have to use one of the PCIe x8 slots and the card being massive needs enough space between cards to work and I think that is the only other available slot on the board anyways (besides the bottom one). Lastly I am unsure if it will clear my PSU. I don't see why it shouldn't but I may need to measure everything just in case.[/strike]


2.) POWER: I also run the current AE at stock (for them) settings so at torture level draws it is pulling max just over 270W and my PSU is a very good 850W so I should be fine there may be cutting it close if my whole system is working really really hard at any point. My only concern there is that I want to OC my CPU more and my RAM is OC'd as well (only to it's proper 3200MHz level, I believe its at 1.35V) . So is there any chance my system will be pushing that 850W?


Answer: According to the answers I CAN disable one of the cards without taking the card out or unplugging it.
[strike]3.) WHEN SLI IS NOT SUPPORTED: What do I do in a case like this? I would really rather not have to take out a card just to run my games/run them well. Is there a way I can just disable the second card without taking it out of my system entirely? This is deal breaker for me. I tend to play WoW the most, but I also play Bethesda games a lot, which tend to be notorious for not supporting something or another, (UW for example) but I play Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim Special Edition, Fallout 3, NV, and 4, as well as a few other Steam games which I know for a fact support SLI. Pretty much all the CoD games since WaW/MW2 (including MW Remastered which does support newer stuff like UW), The older GTA games (GTA 3, VC, and SA), and still quite regularly play Empire Earth, so if I will have to take out a card just for these to run, thats a deal breaker, as I play these a lot. So hopefully there is a way for me to simply turn off the second card.[/strike]

Answer: I found a video of another guy who is using the same cards in a similar configuration and he had to use the 3-slot bridge, I have decided on the Nvidia HB bridge if I go the SLI route.
[strike]4.) Assuming there are no problems up to this point... what SLI bridge should I/can I use?
My MB came with one of those flexible SLI bridges but I am not sure if it is long enough or if it is what I should be using at all. I saw that ideally you should use an HB bridge, but again I have no idea which one to get. I know absolutely nothing about bridges, so any and all information is welcome.[/strike]

So really if someone could tell me if there would be any problem with putting another AE in my system, answer those two SLI questions, and if there are any other problems I should think about that would be great.